Jerez de la Frontera · Cádiz
Montecastillo
Photos courtesy of Barceló Montecastillo, for exclusive use on this page.
Some courses are remembered for one hole, and here that hole is the last one. The 18th plays from forty metres above fairway level, toward a green ringed by water that's in full view before you swing. Knowing exactly what you need to do, and not being able to stop thinking about it: that's what this course is about. Jack Nicklaus drew it and it opened in 1991. Six years later it picked up the baton from Valderrama and hosted five straight editions of the Volvo Masters, the European Tour's grand season finale, from 1997 to 2001 — Lee Westwood won the first one. And yet the rest of the round is gentler than that résumé suggests: the slopes are generous, the fairways forgive more than they look like they will from the tee, and an average player finishes the round happy rather than defeated. It sits on the outskirts of Jerez, on a rise with views over the countryside and vineyards, inside a resort that's been a training base for the Spanish national team, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United. Five practice grounds and a golf academy, within the estate.
Ten minutes downhill. You can play in the morning and be tasting at a century-old winery by lunchtime. Jerez is ten minutes away, Sanlúcar and its manzanilla half an hour. Few courses have this much around them.
Where it's played
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